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PCL Sacramento River Cats

Four-Spot Holds in 4-2 Sacramento Win Over Tacoma

August 19, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento River Cats made four runs in the fourth hold up through the end of game four against the Tacoma Rainiers, withstanding a pair of Tacoma runs as Sacramento once again leveled the series thanks to a 4-2 win on Friday.

In a groove early was River Cats (50-67) starter Kai-Wei Teng (3-4), as he sat down the Rainiers (63-55) in order during the first including a pair of strikeouts. Following that, he worked around a one-out walk in the second by ending the frame when he picked Taylor Trammell off at first.

Trying to get him run support, the River Cats threatened in their half of the inning when Casey Schmitt started the Sacramento swings with a ground rule double that bounced over the wall to the right of the foul line. A throwing error that followed a Joey Bart infield single put runners at the corners, but a pair of pop outs brought an end to the inning.

In a near identical situation in the third was the Rainiers, putting a pair of runners aboard with a walk and hit by pitch that led to runners at the edges with no outs after Robbie Tenerowicz stole third base. Unfazed was Teng, as he induced a pair of lineouts to go with a punchout that got him out of danger.

Finally in the fourth was when Sacramento broke through, and all was set up by the first Triple-A three-bagger by Schmitt. His deep fly ball to center just missed a homer by a couple of feet, but slammed off the wall and allowed him to race all the way to third for his first triple since he was a member of the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Aug. 12, 2022.

Immediately the River Cats cashed in, as David Villar extended his reached base safely streak to 19 games and his season-best hitting streak to eight contests with an RBI single to left field that scored Schmitt.

Continuing the offense, all three other runs crossed courtesy of a no-doubt blast by Jakson Reetz deep over the left-field wall, scoring Villar and Bart after the latter had reached with a walk. For Reetz, it was his eighth homer with the River Cats in just 33 contests, and three of his last four as well as seven of his last nine hits have each left the yard.

Teng qualified for the win after he returned for the fifth, but it took a bit of effort after he had logged a quick pair of outs. A walk to Riley Unroe came around to hurt on an RBI single by Severino that landed in no-man's land in shallow left center, but Teng avoided further damage with an inning-ending strikeout.

In the sixth Tacoma cut the lead in half, scoring against Sean Newcomb after a leadoff double scored on an RBI single by Trammell. A solid defensive play by both Armando Alvarez and Bart were able to save another run from crossing, as Alvarez made a high throw home on a chopper to third that Bart was able to corral before slapping on the tag.

There was only one hit from that point forward by either side, a Schmitt single during the eighth on his own slow chopper hit to third. Instead, it was all about the bullpen in the final third of the contest, as Newcomb worked a scoreless seventh to pick up his second hold of the campaign. He then flipped the ball to Ray Burgos who also collected his second hold with a clean eighth.

Meanwhile, the Triple-A wins leader Nick Avila came on in a save situation and struck out one while facing the minimum in the ninth for his second save of the year. That preserved the win for Teng, his third in just 11 appearances for Sacramento.

It was another three-hit effort for Schmitt, his third of the series after producing three knocks in each of the first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overall, Schmitt is now 12-for-27 (.444) with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two homers, six RBI and a 1.279 OPS.

Game five of this series will take place tomorrow at Sutter Health Park with the first pitch scheduled for 6:37 p.m.

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